Nine Cities Advance to Final Phase of X Games Global Expansion Bid Process

Finalists from Seven Countries Vying to Host X Games Events Beginning 2013 ESPN, the leading action sports content provider, and creator of the X Games, today announced at a press conference at Winter X Games Aspen the nine cities that remain in consideration to host one of three new X Games events to be held outside of the United States beginning in 2013. The three winning bid cities will join current events in Los Angeles, California; Aspen, Colorado and Tignes, France. Since the formal bid process launched last May, ESPN has received significant interest from around the world. Initially, more than 40 entities from 21 countries were qualified to bid. Nearly 20 of these entities participated in a two-day workshop at the X Games in Los Angeles in August 2011 which was designed to educate qualified applicants on the vision and long term strategy of the X Games. Official bids were due and submitted on January 2. Today ESPN announced the following finalists will move into the final phase of the bid process.  BARCELONA, SPAIN  FOZ DO IGUAÇU, BRAZIL  LISBON, PORTUGAL  MUNICH, GERMANY  QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO  RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL  SANTIAGO, CHILE  SAO PAULO, BRAZIL  WHISTLER, CANADA “Action sports is unique in its participatory nature and passionate support around the world, and X Games represents the very best action sports competition, lifestyle and content,” said Russell Wolff, executive vice president and managing director, ESPN International. “We’re thrilled with the response from cities around the world, and the strong interest in bringing X Games to a diverse collection of great cities. Our growth around the world has been driven by local relevance and in building a passionate connection between fans, our brand and our partners. The X Games is a key element of that growth into the future.” ESPN will conduct meetings and site visits with each of the finalists over the next two months. In April, three cities will be selected to host the X Games from 2013-2015, and they will work closely with ESPN to produce the events. X Games Global Expansion The X Games events will continue to spotlight the world’s best action sports athletes in BMX, Skateboard, Moto X, and Rally Car Racing at the X Games; and Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile at the Winter X Games against the backdrop of the host city and country. Each X Games event will take on its own distinguishing character that will set it apart from the others, including the introduction of new sports and cultural elements that are drawn from the host cities themselves. This expansion will bring the full scope and scale of the X Games brand to markets around the world. In the past the X Games has successfully organized smaller action sports events, qualifiers and demonstrations in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Philippines and UAE. For media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. For general information, log on to www.xgames.com. Follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/espnxgames.